The secret is out: Common formative assessments are the key to improving student learning! Formative assessments are powerful when teams of teachers create assessments in common then share and discuss the results. This collaborative process leads to a dramatic increase in student learning and to improved teaching practices. Maria Nielsen provides proven tools to use common assessments across grade levels effectively and departments and illustrates practical strategies for implementing and using assessments to improve student and adult learning substantially. Participants in this session: • Examine the benefits of using common assessment as a grade level or department. • Understand the balance between formative and summative assessments. • Gain formative assessment tools to increase student and adult learning. • Discover quick and easy ways to look at data and drill down to individual students.